Once Upon A Little China
by Bai Hikari Tsubasa
Summary: Being the son of the Asia's strongest tourism firm, InuYasha was sent on an internship. Before that, however, the city kid finds himself in an obscure place in rural China for two months...
1. Transportation

**Once Upon A Little China**

**Chapter 1: Transportation**

Note: All conversation written in bold is spoken in Chinese.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, all rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the respective animation producers

_**Honk Honk!**_

_**"Fresh flowers for...How much is this? …get out of my way, in-coming carriage!...Come, come, four-fifty kuai.***__**" **_

"Yes mom, I will be fine. I have survived the plane ride here, so I am sure I'll survive a train ride." InuYasha gritted, shutting his eyes tightly and trying to ignore the tumult of sounds cascading around him. He looked up when the carriage door slid aside to reveal his two friends – Sango and Miroku – both holding on to plastic bags filled with food and various assortments. "Bye mom, I'll phone back in a few days." He clicked his phone shut and threw it unceremoniously at a corner of the seat.

"Come on, don't mope anymore, it's not that bad!" Miroku chided his friend and handed him an orange. InuYasha merely frown suspiciously at the fruit and waved it off.

"Why are we staying for two months in this obscure place?" InuYasha murmured to no one in particular.

"Since you have pretty much toured through the majority of your home country's tourism sites already, your parents thought it would be a nice change to have some adventure in this...Shin-Jii-An place." Sango offered a reply, trying to pronounce the name she saw on the brochure.

It was an idea that InuYasha's parents devise a month ago: considering that InuYasha, Miroku and Sango were studying business and tourism management; InuYasha's father – who controlled one of Asia's biggest tourism firms - sent his son and co onto an internship in which they work in his Chinese division. But before the start of their internship, InuYasha's mother proposed that the three friends first get a two-month holiday break from university. And so, they found themselves on the train towards Xin Jiang**.

Just then, a lurch signaled the start of the train. InuYasha lay back against his seat as he watched his carriage pass by the crowded platform. Heaving a sigh, he closed his eyes and drifted off into slumber.

* * *

_Brrr..._

"What the f-"

"Now, now InuYasha, remember how your parents talk about restricting the 'f' word?" Miroku reminded his friend.

"What the _hell_ are we doing here?" InuYasha growled, narrowing his eyes at the horse that had just neighed in front of him.

When the train stopped at their destination, the trio found themselves in a worn-out train station that obviously hadn't been through any renovations for decades. As they exited the station, they were greeted by the scene of peaceful lush meadows, vast blue skies, drifting foliage...and a horse neighing in front of them.

"Are you sure we hadn't got out of the wrong station?" Sango queried worriedly as she stared at her ticket, trying to decipher the words.

"I am pretty sure this is the right one," Miroku grunted, "that's what the train lady said."

"Could you explain then where the f- I meant hell is our tourist guide? And why is there a horse in front of the train station?" InuYasha waved his hand incredulously at the giant animal.

"Hmm...We could always ask," Miroku thought as he trained his eyes around the moving mass of people exiting the train station. Just then, he caught an old woman with an eye-patch scrutinizing them. When she saw Miroku looked at her, she ventured to walk up to them slowly.

"Are you InuYasha?" The old woman looked at the threesome curiously, speaking in fluent Japanese.

"Aye, that will be me," InuYasha huffed, somewhat surprised by the old woman's grasp of his native language. "And who are you?"

"Ah, welcome! Welcome! Your parents contacted me and said that I would be expecting the three of you coming over to my house. I am Kaede. For the next two months, you will be staying at my house. Come on, young lads, we better get moving before dusk." Kaede ushered the trio towards a wagon located nearby.

"You got to be kidding me," InuYasha muttered under his breath when he saw the old woman heave their baggage unto the back of the wagon. The wagon looked about as old as the woman, with a few bits and pieces sticking out at odd ends. There was no hood covering the top of the wagon, which meant that should it rain (and InuYasha dearly hope that it wouldn't), all the passengers would be soaked to the bones.

"Come on, we haven't got all the time!" Kaede called out to the three of them as she moved onto the wagon seat, carefully arranging the horses' reins.

Miroku shrugged helplessly back at InuYasha before helping Sango onto the wagon. Muttering a string of obscenities under his breath, InuYasha followed suit, and the wagon trundled off.

**A/N: **

* kuai: currency for Chinese money, just like dollar is for US's

**Xin Jiang: A location in the northern parts of China

Hope you liked it so far and feel free to correct on any of my grammatical and spelling errors! =]


	2. Welcome to Xin Jiang!

**Once Upon A Little China**

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Xin Jiang!**

The trio finally understood why Kaede wanted them to hurry so much. It took them five hours of bumpy wagon rides to reach Kaede's house, which was located on top of a mountain. By then, InuYasha had exhausted his bank of obscenities and just wish for a swifter death.

However, a highlight was that the scenery managed to enrapture all three of them. Rows and rows of coniferous trees stood tall and silently on the slopes of the mountain, their sheer size overshadowing the pathway; where light penetrated through the canopy, they create dancing splotches on the ground. The leaves reflected a warm golden hue as the sun shone behind them. The ground was covered with a thin sheathe of ice, crunching noisily as the wagon rolled over it. A few creeks gurgled happily; weaving in between the ices and following the passengers' route as if they were curious to know wherefore these foreigners were here. High above, the sky was a mixture of pure sapphire and amber, with barely a cloud to be seen for miles around.

Kaede guided the wagon expertly along the many paths, carefully avoiding bigger dips in the trail. The wagon entered a village area, marked by its cleared grounds and wooden constructs. She turned the wagon right and down a slight slope to a wooden house. There were two women sitting outside the house, peeling off corn leaves. One was obviously a mother in her mid-forties. The other was a younger woman – perhaps the older woman's daughter - squatting beside her mother. She looked about their age, tan-skinned, rosy cheeks with her raven hair tied back into a ponytail. She did not acknowledge their presence other than glancing up briefly at the visitors while dismissively tossing some corn leaves to the pig pen behind her; and then she was back to her chore of stripping the corn of its leaves.

"Hey Miroku, maybe you could stop staring at the girl and helping us with the luggage?" Sango yelled from behind the wagon as she struggled to lift her luggage off. _Man, how did that old woman manage to handle the luggage so easily?_

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!"

"Now what?" InuYasha stood up and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the squeal.

A young boy about the age of seven ran up to them and launched himself onto InuYasha's legs, giggling and chattering a string of Chinese. InuYasha only stared back at the kid, unable to fathom what he was saying. Sure, InuYasha did take a year of Chinese lesson under his father's promptings before coming here, but most of the time he did not focus in class and therefore found himself now dumbfounded by the kid's language.

"He said something along the lines of welcome and being happy to see us here," Miroku attempted to translate. "But I don't quite understand his words with that heavy accent."

"Ignore the boy; he is just excited to see foreign visitors here." Kaede replied, beckoning for the trio to follow her into the small wooden house.

The house was partitioned into three spaces: the left was the women's bedroom, the center was the dining room, and the right was the men's bedroom. To Sango's horror, there were no doors guarding the privacy of the inhabitants within her bedroom. There was merely a rectangular hole cut out from the wooden walls that marked the entrance of the room. What if she was changing? Anyone could have walked by casually to exit the house and they would inevitably see her. And to make it worse, Sango knew that Miroku would be thinking about the same thing, trying to come up with a scheme to catch her unguarded.

The two young men located two out of the four beds and dumped their items on the floor. InuYasha flopped down onto the bed nearest to the window, wincing in pain as he realized too late that the bed was hard. It was only the first day and he already hated the place. There were no wireless internet excess, telecommunication signals, metro stations or any forms of advanced technology. It felt like he was going back into primitive ages where people still rely on the use of hand-built tools. Being born and bred a wealthy city kid, InuYasha was more than horrified at the lack of technology, and he will be staying at this place for two months.

**A/N:**

* Imagine the entrance of Kaede's hut in the anime where there isn't actually a "door". This is the same in the case of this fiction.


	3. On to the Bathroom

Chapter 3: On To the Bathroom

It was dark when InuYasha was awoken by the urgent need to visit the bathroom. He glanced cursory at his digital clock ("_thank god it runs on batteries_" InuYasha mused to himself) and it glowed a four forty-five a.m back at him. _Damn, this is way too early to be awake._ But his bowels would not allow him the privilege of staying in bed longer. It must have been the oily food from yesterday night's dinner that caused his current 'stomach-churning' situation.

The young man struggled out of his bed and felt around for his pants, which he found discarded on the floor at the corner of his bed. Kaede had told them to remove all their attires except the undergarments when they were asleep. According to her, it was easier to void the cold in the night if they sleep without their shirts on. _No need to wonder how riled up Miroku got._ InuYasha smirked to himself before cursing under his breath when his toe collided with his luggage. _Curse them for their lack of technology and fluorescent light._ Strictly speaking, Kaede's wooden house did have some fluorescent lights, but being the energy-saving people that they were, these lights were not used unless necessary.

InuYasha struggled to find his way out of the wooden house without waking anyone. The sun was just beginning to rise behind the mountain, tainting the dark skyline with a tint of yellow. He scanned the open compound, trying to remember where Kaede had said the bathroom was. Finally, he spotted the lone wooden structure some distance off

"Why would anyone build their bathroom that far off?" InuYasha pondered as he jogged to the distant structure.

When he did finally reach the bathroom, InuYasha's jaw dropped in dismay. The bathroom was just a small area with four wooden walls enclosing it. Like Kaede's house, there was no door, just an opening in the wooden walls to indicate that the person could go in through to do their business. The wooden walls weren't exactly well nailed together too. There were slits in between the different planks, some big enough for outsiders to have a good view of the person inside the 'bathroom'. Do the people here not concern themselves with personal privacy? To top it all off, there was a sluggish cow lying right in front, barring the entrance.

"Get out of the way, I need to use the bathroom quickly!" InuYasha raised his voice and waved his hands frantically in the air, trying to scare the bovine creature away. Unfortunately, all it did was bat a lazy eyelid at the young man.

"Fine, you stubborn thing," InuYasha tested the rope that was tied to the cow's neck experimentally. "I'll use force." He gave a sharp thug on the rope. The cow did not budge a single inch. He dug his heels into the grounds and gave a sharper yank.

* * *

Kagome was up at four thirty. She dressed herself quickly and proceeded to the well behind the house. Currently the fittest person in her family, she don on the task of waking up early and preparing hot water for the day. She was pumping cold water out of the well when she heard a rush of feet running off in the direction of the bathroom.

"**Odd, I wonder why anyone would wake that early. I'll better check-up on them to see that they are fine**." Kagome thought.

When she approached the bathroom, she saw a figure vainly trying to remove a cow from the bathroom's entrance. Kagome immediately recognized the man as one of the visitors coming to her house yesterday. She could hear the labored breathing of the man, and watched with fascination as he took on various absurd poses as he tugged at the cow's rope.

InuYasha finally gave up on the cow. It was beyond all his powers to remove the creature from the bathroom entrance. He groaned when he felt his stomach rumble more. He would need to make use of Mother Nature then. Suddenly, InuYasha heard a fit of giggle behind him. He whirled around to see a raven-haired woman tittering with laughter as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

* * *

"What's so funny?" InuYasha glared back at her, forgetting the fact that people here didn't speak Japanese. "You know, it's rather rude to laugh at someone who is desperately in need of help with getting in to the bathroom."

Kagome only laughed harder at the young man's cross expression and shook her head. She did not understand what the man was saying to her, but she could well guess what he was trying to communicate. "**Do you want me to help you take the cow away?**" Kagome pointed at the cow, then at herself, and made motions of pulling onto an imaginary rope.

"Look woman, I don't know what you are trying to do, but if that means that I can use the bathroom, **yes**." _Yes_ was one of the words that InuYasha managed to remember because it was easy.

Kagome giggled more when she saw the foreigner using one word from her language. _**They sure do have odd ways of pronouncing the words.**_ She nodded her head and coiled the cow's rope around her wrist. Talking with a gentle tone, Kagome coaxed the cow into standing up and out of the bathroom's entrance. InuYasha was more than awed by how easily she performed the task before his stomach reminded him that he need the bathroom quickly.

"Uh yeah, **thanks**," InuYasha dipped his head in gratitude before rushing into the bathroom.

Kagome keeled over with laughter when she heard the young man's roar of surprise and anger as he entered the bathroom. He was probably not used to rural bathroom systems. "**City kids**." She said to herself as she traversed back to her chores.

**A/N**: Thanks for the reviews and hope you guys will continue to like this story! :)


	4. Art of Breaking a Neck

Once Upon A Little China

**A/N: **Anything in bold is spoken in Chinese.

**Warning**: Slight gore there; I knew some of my readers on the other site weren't that comfortable reading the details, so be warned! :)

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Art of Breaking a Neck**

'Fuck' was the only word that spouted out of InuYasha's mouth as he made his way back to his room. It was bad enough that the bathroom was dirty, but to let _that_ happen at four in the morning…that just killed everything.

"Good lord, you are so loud," Miroku grumbled sleepily as he heard his friend stumble into the room, cursing and stomping on the ground. "And you stink too. What happened?" He propped himself up on his elbow and squinted in the darkness at his friend's figure.

"You want to know? Go to the bathroom and see for yourself." InuYasha glared heatedly back at his friend.

"Ah, you must have been unfortunate enough to step in _between_ the planks and drop your feet into the hole huh?" Miroku grinned back. He went to the bathroom yesterday and knew then that what was the 'toilet' was nothing more than a hole dug in the ground with planks laid over the top. Basically, people just stand on the plank and pour their waste into the hole. After the hole was filled to the brim with human feces and whatnot, the villagers would cover it and dug another new hole somewhere else as a new toilet. "That explains that funny smell you got on you. Must be a rich mixture you stepped into there."

"You -!" InuYasha was cut off abruptly when an old man rapped him over on the head with a ladle.

"**Boys, time to wake up and prepare your breakfast,"** the old man – Kagome's grandfather – sang cheerily. **"And you, young man," **He tilted his head towards InuYasha, **"can go and wash your feet." **

"**But it's only slightly over five! We usually wake up at eight,"** Miroku mustered his best puppy eyes.

"**If you don't wake up early, you will have no breakfast," **Kagome's grandfather replied stoutly and exited the room.

"I guess they make guests here work for their own breakfast," Miroku shrugged helplessly.

"Keh."

* * *

When they were finished dressing and for InuYasha's case, cleaning his feet in a water bowl, the two young men found Sango already waiting outside for them. Kagome and Kaede were nearby, busy herding a flock of ducks into a wooden pen.

"Where did the others go to?" Miroku asked Sango.

"I think the grandfather and the mother went to herd the cattles. They said something along the line of us getting to do the woman's jobs today since this is only our second day here." Sango nodded towards Kagome and Kaede.

"Great, we get to do the sissy's jobs today," InuYasha groused unhappily.

Just then, Kaede approached them and guided them towards short stools located near the duck pens. Kagome was already sitting on one of them with a duck between her hands and waiting patiently. When she saw InuYasha, her eyes automatically roam towards his feet. InuYasha could tell that she was trying to hold back laughter. _So, she KNOWS what happened too huh. _

"First thing first, you will prepare the ducks to be cooked**."** Kaede gestured for the guests to sit down beside Kagome. "Kagome will teach you how to do it. I'll go arrange the cooking implements. If you have any questions, just holler." She winked at the guests with her good eye and sauntered away.

Kagome turned her attention to the guests and greeted them in Chinese. "**To prepare the duck is easy; you just need to kill it, bleed it and stripped it of its feathers**.** Then we can roast them later with spice.**" She talked as slowly as she could and waited as Miroku clarified what she said to his friends.

Sango's eyes widened. "We…have to kill the ducks? How? I don't see any tools about here that could do it…" Miroku translated what Sango said and Kagome's smile widened.

"**It's easy, here-" **She grabbed ducks from the wooden pen and handed each of them a thrashing duck. When she was sure that the guests have a good grip on the duck, she went on with her instructions: "**just watch closely: First you place your fingers right below the duck's head. Count up to around four fingers. You should feel the pulse of the duck through its vein and there will be a slight notch. Gently wrap your hands around the notch and with your other hand, place it below the first one." **She performed the instructions carefully, all the while allowing Miroku to clarify the instructions to the other two. **"Then you give a quick, hard twist**." She gave a deft twist and a loud popping sound could be heard from the duck as it went limp between her hands.

"Ouch, that was uncalled for." Miroku winced as he dropped his duck in surprise. The creature ran away, squawking something angrily back at him. Kagome merely handed him another duck from the pen and waited expectantly.

"She wanted us to kill the duck…just like that?" Sango looked uncertainly back at their translator.

"Heck, if that means that we can be over with this sooner, I'll gladly do it." InuYasha said. He experimentally lifted his duck's head slightly and wrapped his fingers around the duck's neck. He looked back at Kagome, who nodded eagerly in approval. "This should do." InuYasha grunted and give a mighty twist, so hard that he felt slightly sore in his wrist. But to his horror, instead of dying like the duck in Kagome's hand, his duck flopped down with a twisted head and ran with its broken neck about the compound.

"**You didn't twist it the right way!" **Kagome lurched for the duck and end its life mercifully with another quick twist. "**You have to be sure that you grabbed the notch firmly and twist it like this." **She made motions of twisting in the air.

When Miroku finished translating what she said to InuYasha, he only fumed "I see no difference in the way she twisted the neck and how I twisted it!"

Kagome only shook her head in wonder at the irritated man. For all the strong built that he has, he can't even perform some of the easiest tasks. _**Boy, they haven't seen the men's jobs yet. **_Suddenly, Kagome felt hollow inside. Her father had died only two weeks ago, hence one of the reason why they were renting room spaces for tourists so they can earn extra income. Now that her father was gone, and with her grandfather too old while Souta too young…who is going to do the men's job in their house? They had yet to decide what to do with the vacant space that her father had left in their lives. She shook herself out of the depressing thoughts and focus on the jubilant bantering between her guests. First, the guests. Then she can worry about all the other things later.

After that, things went relatively smoothly, with the guests slowly mastering the skill of twisting the duck's neck. However, majority of the ducks were still killed by Kagome. All in all, they manage to end twelve ducks' lives. Next, they bleed the duck by slitting the throat in the area where the notch was and Kagome collected the blood with a basin. **"For making blood cakes**," that was the reason Kagome said for collecting the blood. Then they spend a few moments learning how to select and pluck the ducks' plumage out the correct way, discarding the mature feathers and opting for the downs. Those will be used for pillow fillings. After that, they carry the ducks to the back of the house, where Kaede had already prepared a barrel with boiling water. They quickly dumped the ducks into the hot water and cover the top of the barrel. Finally, after a few minutes, the ducks' carcasses were removed from the water, the excess feathers removed and they were gutted.

"**That should remove any other excess feathers that was not cleaned properly**," Kagome grinned. **"You guys sure did a great job today."** She squinted up into the sky and calculated for awhile. **"Although it's slightly later than usual, I think we should be able to get breakfast ready an hour later. You guys can go wash yourselves, you definitely deserve it. See you an hour later**." She shooed the guests off and went to find Kaede.

* * *

**A/N: **Uh yeah...I hope the details didn't disturb you guys that much. I guess it's one of those cultural differences things that I get used to after awhile. ^^;

Aside from that, I'm not sure if that's how they kill ducks in XinJiang. I know from where I grew up from, they just slit the chicken throat and dump it in boiling water. I really wonder whether it's the cut or the boiling water that killed the chickens. I would think it's the latter, because I could sometimes still hear the chickens screaming and kicking in the boiling water…and do people actually make blood cakes with duck's blood? I highly doubt so; I think its pig's blood that they used for making the cakes. But ah well, a little twist and invention won't hurt right?

**IlonaBliss**: Thank you for that kind compliment! Glad that someone enjoyed the story! =]

**Caseclosed621:** Believe me, the gang have a LOT of adjustments to make ;P And I never did clarify about the language part, did I? Stupid me! 3 Basically, aside from Kaede, Miroku is equally fluent in both languages; hence that's why he was able to translate some of Souta's ramblings. The only problem is that he studied standard Chinese (or to be more specific, Mandarin. Chinese is just a term used to describe the collective language in China and does not refer to any dialects in particular. What most people like to refer to as Chinese is Mandarin, by far the most common dialect used, but I thought I won't go into much more detail less it becomes too confusing. For convenience's sake, I will continue to use 'Chinese' in the fanfic unless a specification between the dialects is necessary.), so he's not quite knowledgeable about the accents, inflections and slight variation in word choices used across various regions. InuYasha and Sango both know a bit of Chinese, but they are nowhere being close to grasping the language as Miroku had.


	5. Ugly Duckling

**A/N: **A short little drabble here. I really wanted to practice how to write shorter writings and yet still be able to infuse the same strong bond between the characters in it. First try doing something like this, hope it's still okay. Reviews would be appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Ugly Duckling**

Miroku and InuYasha were both pumping water out of the well so that they can scrub off some of the feathers and dried blood clinging onto them.

"Say InuYasha…" Miroku drawled out. His friend stiffened substantially, knowing that Miroku was up to no good when he started any sentence in that tone. "What do you think of that girl?"

"Huh?"

"You know, Kagome." Miroku jabbed his finger over his shoulder. "I didn't get to see her clearly yesterday because it was dark and all in the dining room. Now that I have a good look, she isn't that shabby either: long black hair, round cute face and large eyes. I'll say the only regret is that her body shape is plain, if not slightly under average." Miroku made a motion of air plane landing on a straight track and winked, "if you get what I mean."

InuYasha visibly relaxed his shoulders, glad that Miroku was up to no mischief, "Suits your taste."

"You don't like her?"

"Not in the least, she is ugly." There was a brief pause as InuYasha narrowed his eyes, contemplating. "Not pretty." InuYasha pumped the final waters into his basin and carried it to his room.

"Ah, I see." Miroku smiled, noting the slight pause and change of adjectives in his friend's reply. "But an ugly duckling can transform into a beautiful white swan, no?" He chuckled to himself before following his friend.

* * *

**A/N:**

Caseclosed621: I actually haven't ate a blood cake before, but I saw them sold in the supermarket. And of course there will be future chapters! We are just getting into the swing of things! ;D


	6. Unwanted Intrusion

**Chapter 6: Unwanted Intrusion **

Warning: Light sexual situation and obscenities in the chapter.

Three days passed rather uneventfully for the trio as they adapted to the mundane lifestyle of countryside people. Daily routines consisted of: waking up, eating breakfast, doing afternoon chores, eating lunch, conducting evening sessions of Chinese crash-course, eating dinner and finally, going to slumber. The fourth evening found the three friends loitering about the compound. Miroku was having fun teasing Sango, Sango was fending off the male's advances, and InuYasha was resting on the ground.

The sharp sound of flesh against flesh resounded across the compound. InuYasha saw from the corner of his eye that Miroku was holding onto his face as the trademark red hand print appear.

"Was that necessary, my dear Sango?" Miroku pretended to sound melancholic as he batted his eyes at the infuriated woman. "It hurts my heart to see you thus rejecting me."

"Seriously, when would you ever grow up? Is it ingrained in your psyche to fondle every single woman that you come in contact with?" Sango raised her voice in an attempt to scare the man.

"On the contrary, my dear, it is ingrained in my psyche to appreciate every feminine body that I come across. If you don't mind me saying, you have a wonderful –" Miroku dodged a flying sandal neatly.

"Would you guys just shut up already?" InuYasha abruptly stopped the couple's otherwise silly stand-offs as the sandal landed near his head. "Couldn't you see what's wrong with this picture?"

"You mean Miroku is trying to grope me over and over?"

"Why Sango, that's quite an insult! InuYasha, I am afraid you have to explain yourself because I see perfectly nothing wrong with me courting Sango."

InuYasha tapped is feet in annoyance and clenched his jaw. "We are in the middle of nowhere, far from human civilization-" He began, re-stating their current situation as if the other two didn't know about it already.

"Correction, my friend, we are still in the vicinity of human civilization, albeit at the very edge of it." Miroku piped up.

"Whatever. We have been here for four days and what have we done? Chores!" InuYasha waved off Miroku when his friend tried to say something. "What sort of holiday is this? I surely don't feel any relaxation in coming to this place!"

"Allow me to interject. You see, everyone has a different mode of relaxation, and yours happen to be pickier than others. It will take you a longer time to start appreciating the wonders of living a rural lifestyle," Miroku walked over to his fuming friend and patted him consolingly on the back. "I think I rather enjoy this type of holiday. Don't you agree, Sango?" Sango grinned sheepishly at InuYasha and nodded her agreement with Miroku. It definitely felt good to be far away from the city bustle from a change.

"See?" Miroku smiled, "think about the positive things: we get to be independent now, we can work-out even more here, we learn some cool skills that none of our friends will ever know about…" he was counting off his fingers as he list all the possible things he could think of.

InuYasha blew his hair out of his face while he listened to Miroku's chatter. _What is wrong with these people? _He could not – and would not – understand the attraction of such a god-forsaken place. When Miroku continued on with the positive aspects of the village, InuYasha's patience broke. "Shut the fuck up! I…Gah!" Talking was never his forte, and he found it even more frustrating now that he couldn't communicate his feelings across. Instead, he resorted to leaving his friends behind and going for a walk in the nearby woods.

"Do you think he will be fine?" Sango queried.

Miroku shrugged for the uptenth time since his arrival in this place. "You know him. He will blow his steam off soon. And now that we are alone–"

Another slap resounded.

~oOooOo~

After fifteen minutes of mindless walking, InuYasha felt better. A gentle breeze wrapped itself around his hair and lifting the black strands coyly into the air. He inhaled deeply, smelling the sweet fragrance of fresh air. _Perhaps that lecher had a point after all…_

All too suddenly; his feet touched thin air and he lurched forward. He rolled down a hillside with full force until he hit the forest ground at the bottom of the hill. _Perhaps not._

Kagome spent the whole day helping her family deliver milk to the other members of the village. As a result, she was physically drained. Luckily, she didn't have to teach the guests today. Despite their fast pace at learning things, they still made a lot of frustrating mistakes. And it did not help that one of them – the one with the long black hair and stunning violet eyes – was hardly cooperative whilst wearing scowls all the time. _**As if the whole world was against him.**_ The woman treaded her way amongst the trees as she followed the sound of water. She arrived at a river that gurgled at the bottom of the hill by her house. Casting her eyes around, Kagome ascertained that no one was near the river. When she was sure that not a single soul was to be spotted, she stripped her clothing and stepped into the river.

As her feet hit the cool currents, Kagome gasped in surprise and pleasure. It felt so good to have waters flow by, caressing her body with its icy touch and removing whatever dirt that clung to her body. She sighed blissfully. If only life was that good.

But no, life was never easy for her family. And much more so when her father departed. She wished that she could live the life of the 'city people', even for one day. She used to travel down the mountain with her father so as to gather or drop off supplies. Sometimes, she picked up papers from the ground and looked at photos of the wealthy city people. When her father saw her sighing, he would say with a reassuring smile that he would earn enough money to send the family one day off to the city. _**Well, that was wishful thinking. Now that father's gone, I guess I have to look at the world more practically. **_Unconsciously, Kagome began singing a song that her father taught her long ago.

_Who? What? Where?_ InuYasha's thoughts swirled in a mind-shattering vortex as he lifted his upper body off the ground. His vision was spotted with dancing dots. _Okay, cool down. I fell, I rolled off some fucking hill and I hit my head. Ouch._ He gingerly probed his skull. At least there didn't seem to be any fractures. As he tried to lift himself further, he heard someone singing nearby. The singer seemed to be sobbing to herself as she sang. Although he did not understand the lyrics, the emotion of grieve that it carried cannot be mistaken.

InuYasha looked up and blinked. Once. Twice.

If fairy tales were real, this would be it. InuYasha thought that he was staring at a painting. A painting of a naked woman waist-deep in the river with her back towards him. The composition of the image, the perfect interplay between light and shadow and the harmonious fusion of colors made it looked so unrealistic...and fantastical. _Wasn't she the one called Kagome!_

Uncontrollably, InuYasha's eyes traveled downwards from Kagome's hair to her shoulder blades, and then down her back to her..._Shoot!_ He screwed his eyes tighly shut and mentally punched himself. Granted, InuYasha had seen girls with better curves and skin on magazines and on campus. Heck, some of them even offered – no, begged – to be his girlfriend! But never did he see one naked in real life and at such a close proximity to him. What will the lecher say if he caught InuYasha staring like an ape? No doubt Miroku will take every chance to mock him thereafter. _And if father knew, he would roast me alive for being indecent. So now comes the question: what should I do? _

One part of InuYasha's mind roared for him to run away before Kagome found out. But risking a quick peek at his surrounding proved that escapade was impossible. The ground was littered with too many dry leaves to grant him a quiet escape. In fact, if he even made one big move now, the rustling would definitely attract Kagome's attention. Said peek also made its way back to Kagome's frame. There was something rather beautiful about the woman – a wild and primitive sort of beauty that could not be imitated by city girls. _Strike that thought! Why am I turning more and more into the lecher? _Perhaps he should just saunter up to her and say casually "hey, I accidentally rolled down the hill and saw you naked". It was the truth, but sometimes truths were better kept secret.

On the other hand, Kagome was so lost in her song that she didn't perceive the object that crashed behind her. She closed her eyes and rocked in rhythm to the melody that she was singing (no need to mention how much InuYasha's eyes bulged at _that_ sight), happily oblivious to the other's presence. _**"**_**Why doesn't the pain stop spreading?"** Kagome ended the last sentence with a slight inflection on the word 'pain'. She had no idea why her father taught her such a sad song when she was only a mere child, but that song continually haunted her, especially during her father's funeral.

Finally, satisfied that she was clean, Kagome turned to grab her shirt and stopped short.

Although InuYasha had never been a Shakespeare fan, he found himself in one of the most famous dilemmas: to be or not to be? Or more like: to run or not to run? Neither choice was good. If he ran, he would look like a pervert that was caught. If he stayed, he would still receive a nice lecture, but at least he could try to explain.

Kagome gasped. Even though the guest was looking elsewhere, she still did what was the most natural thing: screamed and plunged her body back into the river so that it was out of sight. InuYasha's eyes immediately turned towards the sound of her scream. When he realized that he had been caught red-handed, his expression transformed from confusion to horror as his mouth opened with an 'o' shape.

"Shit! **I...mountain...down!"** InuYasha tried to make a coherent sentence, but all he managed were random words. So much for the crash course with Miroku that he had been doing for the past few days...

It was rather a strange sight: a woman screaming her head off and a man shouting words in an equally loud volume at each other. That went on for quite a few minutes before they ran out of breath and InuYasha turned his back against her. "Look, I really didn't mean it." He began in Japanese, but realized that Kagome could not understand him. "**I...fell down...mountain. Accident...saw you. Sorry." **_Damn the limited vocabulary that he could muster!_ He hoped that the woman could understand what he was trying to say.

For a short while, there was an awkward silence. Then it was followed by a loud splash, a few shuffles and the pattering of feet running away. InuYasha tentatively turned around again and was greeted by the sight of an empty river.

Suddenly, Miroku's words found its way back to his mind.

"You don't like her?"


	7. A Detour and My Dear Fiancee

**No proof-reading for this chapter, so there might be tons of mistakes 3 **As usual, anything spoken in bold is spoken in Chinese.

And warning for some curse words, as our dear hanyou love to say those. ;p

* * *

**Chapter 7: A detour and my dear fiancee**

The petro-fueled vehicle was indeed an ingenious design of humankind. Simple, aerodynamically-shaped metals sitting atop four squat wheels and an engine allowed limitless travel across the vast expense of terrestial grounds.

InuYasha was slowly regretting the fact that he didn't become acquainted with the slick, black BNW that his father owned...or that Rolls-Royce...or that particularly new fashioned hybrid car...But he was definitely getting acquainted with the thousand-year old wagon belonging to the Higurashis, which inched along at an agonizing snail's pace. His breath hitched in his throat as the wagon bumped upon yet another rock. For the umpteenth time, he wondered why he was not graciously located at the front of the wagon.

Before the Saturday sun was up yet, the trio's slumber was broken by their hosts. Within half an hour, they were dressed and tucked into the limited confines of the wagon. Mama Higurashi smiled as she waved the travelors off. Sango, grandpa Higurashi and Kaede were sitting at the front, and from what InuYasha could see, they were having a great time chatting about various topics. And he was left with Miroku, Souta, and Kagome at the backseat. The former two were seated on the other side of the wagon, and much to InuYasha's embarrassment and horror, Kagome was squashed between Souta and him.

Ever since two days ago when InuYasha had accidentally saw Kagome's nude figure, the two had been avoiding one another like they were different poles on the magnet. Or they just pretended that the other didn't exist.

InuYasha darted a surreptitious glance at Kagome's direction. She was absorbed in watching Miroku teach Souta Japanese and occasionally added a comment or two. _Keh, at least she didn't seem to feel awkward. Unlike me._ The young man thought miserably as he became all too aware of the close proximities in the small space of the wagon. _Hey, I think I might just have claustrophobia. _

"Ko-ni-chee-wa."

"**You got the right pronounciation now!" **

Souta's eyes gleamed in happiness as he jumped up and down on his seat, shouting "Ko-ni-chee-wa" non-stop. The wagon swayed precariously to the side.

"**Woah, woah, cool down,"** Miroku stuttered as he tried to hold Souta in place.

**"Be careful back there, you just might flip the wagon off the road," **Kaede called back and immediately the boy stopped his bouncing. He muttered something intangible under his breath. **"And Souta, if you dare talk behind my back again, I will spank you." **Said boy blushed and forced an innocent smile onto his face even though he knew that Kaede would not see it.

"Where are we heading now?" Sango asked the old woman.

"We are going to the Kanas Lake. There will be a Nadam Fair in the upcoming week. We will be going there to do some check-outs of the site today." Kaede said cheerfully, her face lighting up in rare excitement.

"The Nadam Fair? What is that?"

"Oh, you will see in due time, child, in due time. But trust me, you will enjoy it. If not, the guys will definitely enjoy it."

Sango did not like the statement about how the guys would enjoy the fair, and so decided to pursue another line of question: "Talking of which, Grandma Kaede, how did you know Japanese so well? I have always been wondering about that," Sango inquired.

The old woman looked momentarily surprised. "Didn't you know yet? It must have slipped 's mind to inform you guys before you come."

"You knew InuYasha's father?"

Kaede's gaze became clouded as she recalled long-ago memories. "Aye, I knew him for quite awhile. Back around 22 years ago (for I am indeed forgetful these days and cannot remember the years correctly), but back around 22 years ago, I worked under Mr. Taishou's tourism company. I was in charge of the Chinese division then and it was my job to report periodically back to the headquarters in Japan. As a result, I have to learn the language in order to have a smooth communication. Aye...but even then, Mr. Taishou and I did not know each other very well. It was a _particular_ incident that made us close acquaintences.

had just opened another new tourism site in _Jiu Zhai Gou_, and he had decided to scout out the new site personally. He brought his pregnant wife with him. To tell the truth, he must be a daring man to have brought his wife along when she was due any time soon." Sango smiled knowingly at Kaede's descriptions of InuYasha's father. As the old proverb says, like father, like son. Both of them are equally daring when it comes to challenges…Though InuYasha tended to complain more.

"One of the routes in the tourism program involves hiking through dense bushes and mountains – you must understand, this new site is more suitable for those who are adventurous, hence the company prepared a route that requires slightly more physical work. But where am I going? Ah, anyways, on that fateful day when we were hiking through the mountain grounds, Lady Izayoi accidentally slipped. Oh my, what a bad slip! Her amniotic sac burst and initiated a series of contractions. We were so worried that it was a miscarriage. But to make it worse, the signal was weak around the mountain area and Lady Izayoi's foot got caught firmly in the dead logs. In such an urgent moment, I did not bother whether was my employer or not. I just commanded him to head for the jeep down the mountain and drive for help. With nary a choice, he did as I bid. I, on the other hand, kneeled down beside Lady Izayoi and tried to comfort her as best as I could. Though being familiar to this site, I knew all too well that the nearest hospital was an unearthly three-hour ride away – assuming that no traffic got in the way (very unlikely) and the driver was speed-driving.

"And so the clock ticked by as the contractions got worse. By then, it was getting really dark and cold, so I took off my jacket and placed it on the poor woman's body. We huddled together in the dark, waiting for her husband's return. I lost count of time, but I knew that I dozed off and was suddenly awaken by Lady Izayoi's screams. There were bloods pooling at her feet. Unfortunately, her husband had not returned yet. I didn't know what to do and only helped her to the best of my abilities...well, to cut a long story short, guess what saw when he returned?"

Sango's eyes widened. _No_... "Did she...?"

Kaede caught on to Sango's horrified expression and chuckled. "No, no, not what you think. Lady Izayoi didn't have a miscarriage. When he returned, he saw the most beautiful baby boy resting in his wife's arms."

"InuYasha? He...was born in China?" Sango's eyes managed to widen a fraction bigger as realization hit her.

"Yup, he was born then. Even as a baby, he was one with a fiery temperament. I am not surprised that he had an even bigger temper now. Ah, I see that you are confused as to why InuYasha's passport indicates a Japanese nationality. That's because InuTaishou took care of the procedures afterwards to ensure that the passports and birth certificates were changed. But don't tell InuYasha that. I got a feeling that he won't appreciate the fact that his original birthplace was in some area 'far from human civilization.'"

Sango gasped. "You heard our conversation back then? I thought you were not in the compound!"

"Hmm. Not many people pay attention to an old woman's whereabouts," Kaede smiled. "And Miroku was quite something, isn't he?"

The wagon rolled slowly onwards as the first ray of sunlight gleamed across the dust-paved road. By now, Souta had found a new form of entertainment in scaring his guests.

**"Did you know that there are monsters in the Kanas Lake? They are around ten meters long!" **He started in a low and ominous voice, darting his eyes about to make sure that he got everyone's attention. **"They say that the monsters drag horses and sheep down when they are near the edge. Perhaps even humans too." **

** "Silly Souta, these are not monsters we are talking about. They are just the **_**Hucho Taimen**_**." **Kagome admonished her brother on his wild fantasies involving man-eating creatures.

"_**Hucho Taimen?"**_Miroku asked curiously.

"**The **_**Hucho Taimen**_** are big, red fishes that we see rarely. Sometimes they swim in pairs, sometimes in groups. I think they occupy the deep areas of the lakes so that we don't see them that often. But we like to create stories about them so that we can scare little children who are being naughty."**

"**Ah, sounded like the monsters we fabricate to scare our children too when they were misbehaving," **Miroku nodded in understanding.

InuYasha snorted in the corner. What did that lecher know about child-rearing? More like child-bearing. Strangely, he felt left out of the whole cheerful ambient. Why is it he that always got the bad end of the deal?

The wagon managed to reach the spot by early afternoon. Sango was the first one to gasp in delight at the sight before her. If she thought that the scene she saw on the road when she first arrived was beautiful, then this was exotic. Now in addition to the yellow deciduous trees was a lake whose intense blue looked unreal. She was down the wagon in no time and was running towards the lake shore, followed by Miroku and Souta. Kagome was less enthusiastic. She got down from the wagon, but before she left the wagon, she turned back towards InuYasha and said silently.

"**Mr. Miroku thought me some Japanese today, and there's one word that I thought suit you well: **_hentai_." With that, the girl flicked her hair to her back and joined the others by the shore.

InuYasha was rooted to the spot. Did she just called him a pervert? He might not have recognized what the other Chinese words she said, but he definitely knew the word 'pervert' well enough, especially when Kagome took the pain to enunciate it carefully. He turned and saw Kaede staring at him strangely.

"What? Did I just grow a third head?" InuYasha demanded harshly in order to hide his rising embarrassment.

The old woman shook her head. "Nay, though with that expression on your face, you might as well have a third head." And she also left him alone on the wagon.

Not long thereafter, a few other wagons arrived and the Higurashis went off to chatter with the people. They were discussing about the layout of the festival, what people are responsible for bringing and how many people there are going to be. When he joined his friend, InuYasha was feeling disoriented and uneasy. Unfortunately, his ever perceptive friend noticed his mood.

"Say 'Yash," Miroku adopted InuYasha's nickname, "did something happened between you and Kagome? You guys were awfully cold to each other."

"Hell no, nothing happened! Who would be lively living at a place like this?"

"If it's only that simple, InuYasha. Kagome had been acting strangely too. Every time anyone approached her, she would jump like a startled rabbit. She's _scared_ of something." This time it was Sango's turn to point out the abnormality.

"Look, what she's scared of or not scared of is none of my business. Besides, you have only known her for, oh, six days? And you are telling me that she is acting strangely when you barely know that person?" InuYasha defended himself haughtily, but it did not chased away the doubtful looks in his friends' eyes.

"Woman's instincts," Sango replied nonchalently, "they tell me that something happened between you and Kagome."

"Instinct Sminctinct, they are all a bunch of bull," InuYasha mumbled. But he knew that the two of his friends were still staring at him intently and that they would not give up until he told them the truth. Why did he made friends with such perceptive people? Finally, he unfolded his hands from his chest and sighed. "Some accident happened, okay?"

"Go on," Miroku grinned, always happy to hear about some 'accidents' concerning woman and man relationship.

InuYasha shuffled around uncomfortably, "Remember that day when Sango and you had an argument in the compound and almost hit me with a sandal? I went off and tried to cool myself down, but ended up rolling down a fucking hill. But to cut a long story short, I accidentally saw that wench bathing, and she saw me looking at her. So yeah, that's our current situation right now."

"You saw her...bathing? Like...Nude? Naked?" Miroku asked, his interests at a perk now. "How was it, buddy? Does she have nice curves? How about the brea-" A slap from Sango was all it took to silence the overly excited pervert.

This time, it was Sango's turn to question InuYasha, albeit at a more grim and serious tone. "Did I hear right when you said that you saw Kagome naked?"

"Yes, but it was by acci-"

"Yes, yes, I know it was unintended," Sango waved impatiently as her brows creased together worriedly as if she was deep in thought. "This is going to be bad..." She muttered to herself.

"What is bad?"

"Sango dear, you have to explain yourself."

Said woman seemed to debate something in her mind before turning back to the two men, her expression solemn. "InuYasha, I read some information about this place before we came, and I was particularly interested in some of the believes they have in this culture. There's a section in a book about marriages. Apparently, for women in this culture, the first man that saw her naked would become her future husband." A deep breath. "InuYasha, I am afraid you might have a fiancee."

_Oh fuck._

* * *

**A/N:** Finally another update! The past few weeks have been so hectic that I can't even write properly.

Caseclosed621: Well, Miroku found out what happened this chapter! ;p I would think that he would tease InuYasha even more int he future now.


	8. Ever Wonder

Note: Bolded words are spoken in Chinese

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**Chapter 8: Ever wonder…**

Ever wonder what it felt like to be cast out of one's own body? Ever wonder how it felt to watch a cinematic film of oneself doing things that one would never _ever_ attempt doing in real life? Ever wonder how it felt like to have no control over one's own actions?

Unfortunately for InuYasha, he – or at least, his body – was doing things that made him wish for a hole to bury himself in. One moment he was on the wagon back to the house, and the next moment he opened his eyes to find himself floating in a room, watching in horror as the other _him_ make-out with Kagome. They were embracing each other ardently with him slinging his arms around her shoulder and her leaning onto his shoulder. All of a sudden, the other him leaned down towards Kagome and gave her a long kiss. InuYasha knew for one that he was just dreaming, but what he didn't know was how to stop the dream from progressing further.

* * *

The next afternoon yielded a very distraught young man who was struggling to escape sleep.

"InuYasha…" Sango started to drawl out, eyeing her friend warily. When he did not respond to her, she decided to beat around the bush and commented "You have eye bags."

"Tell me about it." He grunted in a bored voice, his mind obviously elsewhere.

"Are you still thinking about what I said yesterday?" Immediately, InuYasha's head whipped up at the comment and he glared at Sango in a silent challenge, as if daring her to make fun of him. Sango ignored his glare and placated gently, "Look, I'm not trying to mock you. But I thought you might want to talk about it."

"It's none of your business," InuYasha muttered angrily, more to himself than to Sango. His pride would not allow him to show how disturbed he is, less his friends labeled him as weak.

"It's my business when you decide to squash the peas and ruin _our_ dinner," Sango stated dryly.

Only then did InuYasha notice the sticky green goo on his fingers and the amount of peas that he had decided to vent his frustration upon. He was supposed to peel the pods, not crush the peas! Kaede was probably going to give him a lengthy lecture about his anger management problem. Well, now that Sango already knew about most details, he might as well get this over with… "Hey Sango," Said girl jumped slightly at his serious tone, "ever wonder what dreams meant?"

Sango mused over the question for awhile before answering him, "that depends on the contents of the dream. I have heard of dreams that predict the future, dreams that uncover the subconscious desires of the individual, repressed memories coming back in the forms of dreams, the idea of the silver thread, and of course, dreams of our worst phobias (ones that we refer to as nightmares). Why do you ask?" She didn't noticed that while she was listing off the possible significance of dreams, InuYasha's expression took on very interesting contortions. _Future predicting? Subconscious desires?_ However, he did perk up when Sango mentioned how dreams represented phobias too. _Hah! That must be it! The dream he had was nothing more than a phobia! _

"Nothing, I think I better get going. You can continue with the shelling!" InuYasha was suddenly enlightened and in a cheery mood. He waved to Sango, who was starting to protest at his exeunt, and jogged off back to the hut. Now time for some well-deserved sleep…

On the other side of the hut, Kagome was debating to herself whether or not she should confide in Kaede and her mother. After all, they were her superiors and knew more about _those_ types of stuff. It had taken her all her courage to call InuYasha a pervert yesterday and now she felt her bravado slipping away into nothingness.

'_**Oh god, how would her mother and Kaede respond to the truth? Would they blame me for being careless and allowing a man to catch me naked?'**_Purity was something that was highly treasured amongst the womanhood in her community, and people responded negatively to those who uncover themselves to a man before their marriage. **'**_**But it was only an accident! Who could blame you when a man decided to intrude into your bathing space without your consent?'**_ Kagome tried reasoning to herself. _**'I can do it! I will talk to mother and lady Kaede right now and ask for their advice!'**_

With her mind set, Kagome approached the two older women cautiously and coughed politely. "**Mother, lady Kaede, I wish to talk about something with you."**

The two women exchanged glances with each other before Mama Higurashi smiled warmly to her daughter. **"It's about time, don't you think? Something has obviously been bothering you these past few days, and we were waiting for you to open up first." **

Kagome was surprised that they were already expecting her. Was she that easy to read? **"Before I tell you everything, do you promise to keep it a secret?"** She implored her elders, her eyes wide and begging.

"**Only what needs to be kept quiet, child**," Kaede answered, **"However, I warn you in advance, I think I have a pretty good idea of what your trouble was, and it is a rather hard secret to keep." **

Kagome only nodded her head silently, wondering how Kaede knew already. She hoped that since the older woman didn't react that much, perhaps her mother would be sympathetic towards her situation too. She jumbled around her mind for a suitable place to start and took a deep breath, talking after awhile, "**Mother, do you remember the rules you used to talk about when I was young?"** She didn't wait for a response before continuing on in her nervousness, "**I am afraid that I have already broken one of them."** She held out her hand when her mother started to open her mouth, "**Before you ask anything of me, I need to also justify that this is on no account my fault. It was purely accidental…"**

She stopped and watched the women's reactions. Her mother was frowning slightly, as if it was hard to believe that _her _Kagome would break any rules; on the other hand, Kaede looked more than calm, as if she was confirming her theories. She only hoped that they would remain as calm as they were now when she was finished with her talk. "**I was bathing a few days ago by the river. I checked beforehand to make sure that no one else was around the vicinity before stripping. However,**" she trailed off and gulped, "**One of the guests happened to stumble close by and I was not prepared. I…don't have a shirt on at that time." **

Mama Higurashi was frowning harder now, trying to piece two and two together. "**Kagome, was the guest…San Hu?" **She opted to pronounce Sango's name in Chinese rather than using the Japanese pronunciation. Kagome shook her head.

"**Mi Le?" **Kagome still shook her head. _Then, that leaves…_ "**Quan Ye Cha?"** At this, Kagome's flinched visibly and she nodded her head slowly. **"Oh my…"**

"**Mother, I can explain! It – it was all an accident, he said so himself! I didn't know he was behind me until it was too late!" **Kagome stuttered as she saw her mother's face turn blank. This was worse than she imagined, her elders didn't take well at all with the notion of her being 'defiled' by a man. She was on the verge of tears when her mother suddenly burst out:

"**This is fantastic! Do you know what this meant? I am going to be a grandmother soon! And then all my grandchildren will have long silky hairs with violet eyes! Oh Kagome, why didn't you tell me earlier?" **Mama Higurashi managed to say everything in one breath as she smiled happily. Kaede only nodded more to affirm her suspicions.

Meanwhile, Kagome was opening and closing her mouth in rapid successions, imitating that of a goldfish's expression. **"But…the rule…we can't be seen by a man before our marriage unless…" **

"**Unless you are going to marry him," **Mama Higurashi finished with a gush. "**You know the rule is law here. And since you were seen by him, you have to marry him. Oh, this is so good. Why hadn't he proposed yet? Do you think it's because he's too shy?"** She continued on regardless of Kagome's horrified look.

The poor young woman was at a loss of words, so Kaede came in to her help. "**Child, go help Souta and your grandfather. I think I can hear them calling."** Kagome took the hint and gave a nod of gratitude in Kaede's direction before running off.

* * *

Later in the day, Kaede caught InuYasha tossing and turning on his bed, still unable to sleep. "Has sleep not visited you yet, child?"

InuYasha turned and gave a half-hearted glare at the old woman. "Shut up, you aren't supposed to be here in a men's room." Truth be told, he had no idea why he was not sleeping either.

Instead of leaving, Kaede chose to sit on Miroku's bed, which was beside InuYasha's. "You should watch your tongue young man, or else you may be in deep trouble in the future. Not that you are not in a deep trouble now already." She added the last sentence as an afterthought. "You do know what sort of trouble you are in right now, do you not?"

"I'm not marrying," the young man retorted whilst covering his eyes with his hand. "Who made up those stupid rules anyways? Besides, it was an accident."

"Do not insult the ancient customs of this land, child. Whether it is an accident or not, you have to bear the full responsibility."

InuYasha sat upright on his bed and glared harder at the old woman. "For your information – and I'll not repeat it again – It. Was. An. Accident." He grinded out menacingly. "Heck, I didn't know that she was down by the river then. It's not like she flashed a big 'I'm bathing' sign for people to stay away! So stop blaming it all on me!"

Kaede willed herself to be patient with him, "I understand that, child, and if there were any other choices, I would not have tried to force this on you. However, I need you to understand that your decision, while it might not have affected you in any ways considering that you will be leaving in two months, will impact Kagome's life. If words got out that she was seen by you before her marriage, she would be stigmatized for life and no one will marry her, which leaves her unable to provide for herself when she grows older. Do you want to live with the knowledge that you have managed to ruin a girl's life just because of an accident?"

"So you guys are trying to push me down the guilty road trip now?" InuYasha snorted. "Has anyone considered how innocent I am or the fact that my life would be ruined too if I married her?"

"Aye child, but you are a well-off young man. On the other hand, Kagome cannot fend for herself if she does not marry."

"What about her younger brother? Her mother? And that old guy! I'm sure they can help in providing for her!"

Kaede only shook her head. She could see so much of InuTaishou in InuYasha; both of them were definitely stubborn when they had set their minds to it. "I had expected you to be much brighter than that, child, but I am sorely disappointed. Her mother and grandfather are already elders; they cannot work for much longer. Souta had yet to marry, and if he did, he had the burden of not only providing for his newly formed family, but also his sister and elders? That would be beyond the boy's capabilities. Now if you enter the picture and decide to take in his sister, you could provide a stable financial support for the family and alleviate Souta's burden. In fact, it wouldn't cost much (considering your family's income) for you to support all of them."

"To hell with that! Why am I stuck with a bi-" InuYasha caught himself in time when he noticed Kaede's raised brows. "- girl that I don't even know?"

"And that is why I am not trying to force you into a marriage right away. We all know that a marriage not based off love is bound to be unhappy. You have the two months to slowly get to know her, and I can assure you that Kagome is a very nice and sweet child. I can only hope that you liked her enough by then to accept her into your family." Kaede smiled.

"And if I still don't like her by then?" InuYasha asked hopefully, he might yet still escape from his responsibility.

"Then I'll have to force you to," was Kaede's all-too-cheerful response. The young man's mood took a deep plunge when he knew that he had no way out of this problem. What had he done to end up in such a tangle?

* * *

**A/N: **

Not particularly happy with this chapter, but ah well, the fun starts later :)

* Silver thread: I read somewhere before that when people sleep, their soul will leave their body and travel around to other places. The only connection between the soul and the body was through a silver thread, and so whatever the soul happened to be doing outside the body become dreams in the person's memory.

*Sango's name is 'San Hu' if you read it in Chinese, Miroku's 'Mi Le' and InuYasha's 'Quan Ye Cha' since they all have kanji letters for their names.

**Pokahydee - Nekoyasha:** Thanks, glad you liked the story so far! :)

**CaseClosed621**: Haha, at least Kagome revealed what happen now to her mother and Kaede. But whether or not InuYasha marry her remains to be known ;p


	9. Nadam Fair Part I

Chapter 9: Nadam Fair

Bolded words are spoken in Chinese, non-bolded words are spoken in Chinese

* * *

_One Week later…_

It was a bright morning in the Taishou estate, one of the oldest constructions around in Japan, with its history dating far back to the feudal era. The grounds covered several acres, consisting of pristine gardens, large courtyards for hosting parties and many other opened areas that provided guests and families alike with recreational options. In the center, slightly to the back stood the massive manor which housed the Taishou family for generations and generations. Sunlight could be seen filtering through the thin paper windows, casting bright spots along the ancient hallways and giving it a warm glow.

Izayoi was already up before dawn when a servant informed her of a phone call from China. She grinned secretly as she thought back to the contents of the call whilst heading for her bedroom.

"Honey, we have news," the woman slid aside her bedroom door and quietly approached her sleeping husband, not wanting to startle him. His hair was untied and fanned out across the pillow, casting an eerie silver light whilst it catches the dancing rays of sunlight. His left hand lay behind his head whereas his right hand was slouched across his stomach. Although he was a man in his middle ages, the corner of his mouth was open and a thin sliver of drool could be seen glistening down his chin. Izayoi shook her husband slightly, "Wake up dear, Kaede had just sent a messenger to inform us of important news."

"Huh? What could be that important for you to wake me up in the middle of a Sunday morning?" InuTaishou slurred sleepily, not wanting to wake just yet.

"Our son is getting engaged," Izayoi smiled happily as she clasped her hands together in front of her chest, barely able to contain her excitement. Like any mother, she had always pictured her son with a family of his own, and now it seems that her dreams were coming true.

It was a bright morning in the Taishou estate – that is, until an indignant bellow from InuTaishou ruined it.

"InuYasha!"

* * *

On the other side of China, InuYasha awoke with a start. Briefly, he thought he could hear his father shouting his name, but that was ridiculous. He glanced outside the wagon, which was heading towards the Nadam Fair. The week had gone by rapidly and the Fair was here before he knew it. To be honest, he wouldn't even bat an eyelid if an asteroid decided to crash into Earth right then. He was just concerned with getting himself out of his dilemma.

_'It's true that she is pretty in her own way,' _InuYasha mused as he casted a surreptitious glance over at Kagome, _'but this is still not enough reason for me to be engaged to that woman.'_ Although a playboy of sorts, when it comes to a long lasting relationship, InuYasha was quite the traditionalist. He believed that his marriage must be based off of love and devotion, a courtesy of his mother, who reiterated over and over to him that love was the key to happiness.

When they arrived, the previously unoccupied lake was already filled with people. Some, like the Higurashis, were shepherds and merchants that came to sell their goods. Others were activity directors that came to set up for the events. One thing in common was that all of them were dressed in brightly colored clothing that denoted the village they came from and the craftsmanship of their particular village. The lake site was currently filled with all sorts of bright banners and flags to attract potential customers or traders, perhaps even a few tourists if any happened to chance by.

The Higarashis stopped in their assigned areas and began unpacking. They had brought along sheep's wool, lengths of dyed fabrics, some smoked meats and little trinkets in hope of making some good trade during the fair. After assigning everyone to their task of setting up the stalls, the group split up.

"**Hey, watch it!" **A masculine voice cried as something hard bumped into InuYasha, who was struggling to set up the pole for the stall.

"Were you talking to me?" The young businessman-to-be narrowed his eyes at the source of the voice. He saw a man about his age, black long hair tied up in a high ponytail with a band across his forehead. What was startling was that the man had sapphire eyes, a color which was not common amongst the Asian race. And it was hate at first sight.

**"You banged into me with that stupid pole of yours,"** the stranger growled dangerously low, likewise he didn't understand what InuYasha had just said, but he could give a good guess based off the hostile aura that InuYasha was giving him. **"And don't give me that arrogant look, or I'll wipe it off your face."**

One thing InuYasha knew was that the stranger had said the word 'stupid' to him; another was that the stranger had dared talk to him in such a demeaning tone, and he was _not_ a happy camper. No one _dared_ to talk to him in such a manner. It was only natural that he forgot his manners completely and profanities started flying. "If I were you, I'll keep my trap shut, you son of a bitch."

Not to be talked back, the stranger scoffed, "**Did you just glare at me? Because I am going to dig your eyeballs out right now-"** He didn't get to finish his sentence as two other males ran up to him and started dragging him back. They were saying something frantically to him, as if trying to soothe him. They glanced back at InuYasha and gave him apologetic nods as they dragged the struggling stranger off.

_What in the seven hells was that?_

* * *

Later in the day when most people have already finished setting up for the fair, they hosted a big picnic lunch. During this time, the three visitors were the center of attention and the target of many questions.

"**How long are you going to stay here?" **

Miroku took the opportunity to act as translator for his friends, at the same time showing off his knowledge of two language to the girls nearby. "**Two months, then we will be going to work in the city."**

**"What sort of company are you working for?"** Another curios person asked.

"**Tourism,"** Miroku replied smoothly. "**All three of us are going for an internship there."**

All of a sudden, the whole gathering became deathly quiet. People cast nervous glances around before an old man ventured, **"Which tourism firm was it?"**

InuYasha cocked his head to the side as Miroku once again translated the question over. He didn't register the tension in the air. "Why, you haven't heard of Taishou tourism? We are a big company you know, like huge." He waved his hands in the air in an attempt to show how big and successful his father's company was. "Quite wealthy too," He nodded to himself.

There were a few more chatters between the villagers before they broke into smiles again. "**Taishou company is a good company, they don't exploit us like the other tourism firms do. For a moment there we thought you were one of those companies that destroy our culture just to gain a profit for their own benefit.**"

As Miroku translated, InuYasha frowned. _Now why would anyone do that? _

**"Tourism or not, they are all the same bastards."** A collective gasp could be heard from everyone. There stood the blue-eyed stranger, pointing an accusing finger at InuYasha. **"If it hadn't been for you guys, we wouldn't need to argue over splitting the lands! You bought our ancestor land out and ruined the sacred grounds! If I have my hatchet now, I'll cleave you into two and feed you back to the sniveling mongrel that you call a father."**

Not liking what he hear when Miroku finished translating for him, InuYasha taunted back, "Perhaps your Neanderthal brain hadn't learn what a contract is? It's a paper that we draw up with all the terms and conditions stated clearly. Someone from _your_ side reads and if they agree to the terms and conditions, both of us sign. Then we both shake our merry little hands and get our share of the money. So if you want to complain, go dig out those money-eyed friends of yours that signed the contract and feed them instead to their fathers."

Again, Kouga lunged for InuYasha after Miroku finished with the translation (though he remembered to drop a lot of the profanities from the translated version). Both men tumbled onto the ground and within moments, Kouga was on top of InuYasha with his hands tightly wrapped around InuYasha's neck. Some men attempted to wrestle the two apart whereas others cheered them on.

"**Enough!" **A voice declared with authority.

Slowly, the crowd parted ways for Kaede to move through. Being one of the oldest people around the fair, she naturally assumed a position of command. Reluctantly, Kouga moved off InuYasha and backed away.

**"We don't need a mess before the start of the fair. If you two are so inclined to fight each other, you can do so in the events tomorrow. The one who loses shall have to apologize publicly to the other and admit their faults. Is that clear?" **Although Kaede knew that apologizing was a mild punishment, but being the egoistical males that they are, apologizing was tantamount to telling the two of them to dance with pink dresses on.

"**Sounds easy enough,"** Kouga sneered at InuYasha before moving back towards his own group of people.

Not wanting to back down a challenge in public, Inuyasha agreed to the competition.

* * *

"Hold your feet apart, stand straight. Now look straight ahead at your target and focus. Keep in mind that the wind will be strong from time to time and thus it will affect the trajectory of the arrow. Now balance the tip carefully on your left finger, lift it up to your ear and pull the string slowly back. How much times must I remind you to focus?" Kaede instructed.

After the first two hours of practicing, InuYasha was sorely tempted to shoot the old woman. That is, if he could successfully fire the arrow at her direction in the first place.

The first event that they were to compete in was archery, one of the three basic skills of men. The event was split into two different categories. The first category was a test of distance to see which man had the strength to shoot the furthest; the second was a test of accuracy where the contestants have to ride a horse whilst shooting at the targets. No need to say, our male protagonist was skilled at neither of the things listed.

"Again! And Again! You are still not there yet, young child, focus more!" Kaede continued to instruct InuYasha, who was nowhere near the expertise of a child yet. Then again, no one really expected him to pick up the art of archery within one day. Those who were proficient practiced for years before they mastered the skill.

InuYasha was well aware that he had no way of winning the event, unless he thought of some other strategies. His hope came in the form of his perverted friend.

"You know, Yash, I have been talking with some of the lady folks over there. They said that the main reason Kouga was targeting you was because he sees you as a potential love rival. After all, you are currently staying under the same roof as Kagome, the girl whom he had been wooing for months."

"What about you? You are also staying at the lodge too!" InuYasha fumed.

"But with my appreciation of all women, I think that Kouga got a pretty clear idea that I was not interested in 'his' woman. On the other hand, someone here had seen-" Miroku was cut off as InuYasha pounced on him.

"Remind me of _that_ situation one more time and Sango's going to become a widow in the future," InuYasha growled threateningly. Miroku nodded once and InuYasha rolled off his friend. "So why are you here now?"

Said friend gave a cunning grin. "We all know you can't win Kouga in archery, however, you do have one advantage. You live with Kagome and you saw her – I mean, you were with her before."

InuYasha cocked an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with me winning the event?"

"Think about it," Miroku thumped his friend on the head, "you can use Kouga's jealousy to your advantage. All you need to do is just spite him a little and make him lose his focus."

By all means, InuYasha was not one to rely on underhanded ways to gain his victory. But after weighing his advantage against Kouga's, he decided that it would be best if he make full use of his little advantage. It wouldn't hurt to be cunning from time to time right?

"All men are given one arrow for the first category. The man who shoots the furthest is the winner of the first category."

As the announcer continued on introducing the rules of the game, InuYasha zoned off. He looked at the row of participants and flinched inwardly. While he was considered muscular in a lean sort of way, compared to the men present, his body could easily pass as a child's. All the other men were tall with muscular bodies that somewhat resembled a bull's, their hands big enough to wrap around his neck and break it like a twig.

On the sidelines, Kagome also winced when she compared InuYasha to the other men. He looked petite standing in the line, holding on to a modern plastic bow whereas others were using traditional bows carved out of the strongest woods. InuYasha had chosen to use this bow because the strings were easier to pull, the bow was lighter, and it had devices on it that helped him aim.

While she did not like InuYasha exactly (especially after that particular intrusion), Kagome was hoping that he would still win against Kouga. She knew that if Kouga won, he would surely think that he had also gain the right to claim her too, which was something she could do without. Kouga's possessiveness was endearing, but sometimes he imposed himself too much on the poor girl.

"Are we clear on the rules?" The announcer asked.

InuYasha planted himself firmly on the ground, legs slightly apart. He tried to recall as many of Kaede's instructions as possible: look-out for the wind direction, focus, look straight…ah, and of course, _that._

Kagome blinked in surprise as InuYasha suddenly sauntered over to her with a seductive smirk on his face. She retreated a few steps back, but found herself unable to go back further because of the crowd behind her. By then, a big crowd consisting of tourists and villagers had already gathered around the area of the competition. He cupped her face with one of his hand and stroked it tenderly with his thumb. Then he leaned down, close to her face and with a swift movement, pecked her on the forehead.

"**This victory is for you,"** InuYasha whispered in her ear, but made sure it was loud enough for Kouga – who was standing only a few distances away – to hear. Kagome blushed profusely, wondering what he gotten into him. With that, he straightened up and returned to his post, making sure that he strolled by Kouga with a smug grin.

Once he was back in line, he casted a surreptitious glance in Kouga's direction. Whatever Miroku had taught him to say and do, it was working. The other man was trembling with rage, his knuckles deathly white as he gripped tightly onto his bow.

To say that Kouga was beyond furious was an understatement. Here he was, trying to court Kagome for months by giving her flowers, proclaiming that she was his destined in front of others and chasing away other potential suitors. But never once did he get intimate with her, and in came the stranger, who not only lived in the same house as her, but also kissed her forehead in front of everyone! The worst part was that Kagome had actually blushed.

"Ready!" The announcer raised his hands. "Shoot!"

Just as Kouga let go of his string, he saw InuYasha winking at Kagome from the corner of his eyes. That was enough to let his attention drift, and his arrow ended up traveling the same distance as InuYasha's. Since they were equal, they were given another arrow to attempt a second round. As Kouga was about to shoot the second time, he spied InuYasha smirking at him and mouthing the word 'loser'. That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Instead of shooting off into the distance, Kouga turned his arrow and aimed it at InuYasha's back when the other turned around. He fired.

For once, the goddess of luck was on InuYasha's side. The wind picked up and instead of decapitating the young man, the arrow changed its course of direction and sheared off a few strands of his hair.

InuYasha gawked as he watched the few strands floated to the ground. "What the hell?" He whirled around to face Kouga and jumped on the other man. "You were trying to kill me you bastard!" He punched Kouga across the face and drew some blood.

"**Keep your hands off my woman!"** Kouga roared back, already half-guessing what InuYasha was shouting about. He returned the punch with equal force, knocking InuYasha off balance.

Once again, the crowd had to intervene to stop the two men from fighting each other to the death. After a lot of struggling and cursing, Kouga was ultimately disqualified from the event for trying to wound his opponent, whereas InuYasha won by default.

"It's rather disappointing that you will resort to such a method to win the event." Kaede faced InuYasha. "I hope that you repent and attend the next event fair and square."

InuYasha keh-ed at the old woman. "Fine, I will just attend the contest tomorrow without cheats. Besides, I don't need any sort of cheats to win against him." Perhaps he couldn't win Kouga in archery, but he was convinced that he could win Kouga at the next event.

On the other side, Kouga was cursing nonstop. He was humiliated once again by the stranger in front of public!

"**I find it surprising that you will go to that extent just to get Kagome."** Kouga looked up to see a red-haired female approach him.

"**It's none of your business, Ayame," **Kouga growled.

"**It is my business when I was supposed to be your fiancée," **Ayame countered bitterly. She had an arranged marriage with Kouga when they were young, but that was before Kagome entered the picture. Ever since then, Kouga broke off the engagement.

"**But you are no longer one now," **Kouga replied casually, making a hand motion as if to shoo the girl off. "**My goal is only to get Kagome to be my woman. And trust me when I say that nothing will get in my way from attaining that goal."**

**A/N:**

Trallalalala done with another chapter but not fully edited yet! I was intending to write the whole Nadam Fair in one chapter, but then it would take too long, so I will be splitting it according to the events.

IlonaBliss: Thank you so much! Glad you liked it so far ;D


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